Part 48: In Search of Candy

Update 48: In Search of Candy






Music: Beat of the Rumbling Earth


All right, welcome back to the postgame dungeon. This area is the screen after the little safe haven. It's just a cave with a couple teleporters and a shortcut back, but it houses this final Mana Item.





Hmm. The description sounds cool but I don't know if the actual effect is worthwhile. I'm pretty sure this is just a death spell, and I don't know if that's worth five Time elements.





I didn't run into any notable enemies here, either, so let's move on to the last part.





The Dark Scary Cave area houses the nastiest randoms and is a maze of stairs, teleporters, and Mana Stones.





It has a couple of neat (albeit recycled) setpieces, at least.





Huh? These are new.







...Alright, then. These guys are pretty much pushovers and help counterbalance the other difficult battles. They even heal you sometimes, it's great.





Ka Luda's chess pieces make a reappearance (the Knight piece is off on it's own for some reason).





And Baal's still around. I didn't want to waste any more of Norn's MP trying to turn him into Amalgam Candy, so I just ran away from them.





This save point means we're getting pretty close...Too bad it's not one of those safe havens where I can set up tent, but I guess that would be asking for a bit much.







Hmm...That's not bad, actually, for a weapon that doesn't have +105 HP/ATK baked into it from Mana Stones. I'll have to remember I picked this up.







I also got turned around and wound up finding this back near the start of the area. It's not as impressive, but I suspect I can slap some Mana Stones into this as well. We'll see.





These two Growloons guard the teleporter to our fate...







Music: Ferocious Drive


Meet the Three Golden Pigs.

These guys are kind of like the exact opposite of Amalgam in all the worst ways.





They don't hit that hard, really. I mean, 70 damage is decent for a basic attack but I could take it.

The problem is that they are fast. They are basically guaranteed to attack before my characters, they can occasionally get two turns in between my characters, and worst of all they are virtually guaranteed to get “Quick!” turns, so they actually get to act about twice as much as they should.

In other words, this means they get like 6-10 attacks for my team's 3. That 70ish damage per hit is a lot more intimidating when they get to hit me that many times that quick, and of course Klein and Norn take more damage.







Murder Mode is go.

(Murder Mode on Arlin was a mistake).









The sheer quantity of turns they get isn't enough, of course. They also like to inflict Knockdown with this attack to deprive you of what turns YOU get.





Murder Mode Arlin looked like he was going places for a bit. Double hits three times, and 2000 damage to an enemy is no joke.







Too bad Arlin can't survive long enough for it to matter.

It miiiight be worth it if you use Bull's-Eye, since that makes Arlin disappear (and thus become untargetable) for a while. Even so, he still has to survive long enough to attack after he buffs.





Marietta can be handy to have around since she has a passive ability that makes her sometimes survive fatal hits on Guts. I've had her survive like four hits in a row with this, but it's still luck based...









...Whelp.








I tried and tried, I looked up the “correct” strategies and tried to manage them with the resources (read: eqiupment/mana stones baked into equipment) that I had with me at the time, and it just wasn't working. I think I might have gotten close once when the RNG decided to be merciful and even then I just wasn't up to snuff. So...





...Let's get started on Everything Else. It's time for the other postgame battle!





Okay, meow.

You've been with Klein for some time, now.

Has it really been that long, meow?

I want to see how strong you've become.

Meow!?

Huh!?

Meow! I can't fight you, Zeldalia!

Don't worry. You won't be fighting me – you'll be fighting a phantom.

Are you serious?

Yes. Please don't interfere – this is between Norn and I. Please follow me to the Mystic Circle.





Meow...I – I'll do my best!

This is my final gift to you. I'll help you reach your full potential. Get ready, Norn...Let's go!











The first four fights might be vaguely dangerous if you don't have a maxed out Illusion spell...but probably not. Oh, Zeldalia heals Norn in between fights, so don't worry about MP (not that you really need to with her in the first place).





The fifth fight is harder – Lilim may get to act before Norn and hits kinda hard, and her allies don't do much but can still survive one hit from Illusion at my level if it doesn't make them flee.





You might need to heal once or twice, but all told this fight isn't too bad, either. I found that Telekinesis worked better than Illusion once I got rid of Lilim's cronies, but I doubt it really mattered.





You've grown very strong, Norn. There's nothing left for me to teach you. I'm so proud of you. Please take this with you as a symbol of your growth.

Meow...meow!? Your cane? Oh...I'm so happy, meow!

...Norn. There's something I need to tell you.

What is it, meow?





Meow!?

But you're still my daughter. Nothing can change that.

We're still your friends too, Norn. It doesn't matter that you were a cat.

...I am happy, meow. I don't care if I'm a cat or a human, meow...I'm just glad I have Zeldalia, Klein, Lita...all my friends! You make me happy, meow.

...It looks like there wasn't anything to worry about. Norn is still Norn.

Meow...was that the right answer?

Of course it was...Just don't forget it, okay?


And that's wraps up another sidequest, and for it we gain Norn's ultimate weapon...





whooooooaly shit that is fucking glorious.

But I think we can do even better. Zeldalia's Cane doesn't do smithing, but let's check out that old Fiary Bracer I have lying around.





Music: Flask Boy


While I was running around the final and postgame dungeons, I maxed out on Glowing Mana. I also have 7 Green Mana. As it turns out, that's just enough...





First, we can have Eital turn Glowing Mana into Magic +3. I did this six times.

Deimia can also turn Green Mana into Magic +1. I also did this six times.





By combining these right, I can get three Magic + 8 crystals.





Then I had Deimia turn my last three Glowing Mana into Mental Curse. If you pair Mental Curse with Magic + 8, they fuse into something else...





Dirty Power gives +50 Magic. It also causes the user to lose 2 Mana a turn, which is peanuts for Norn and I have ways to regenerate that anyway (hell, her fully leveled basic attack even drains MP).





It also stacks on itself up to three times.





So Norn can become the ultimate magical force. You know what that means, right?











That's right, I can turn Satan into a delicious treat.

I can't think of a better note to end this update on, so let's stop. Join me next time for Regallzine's Item Extravaganza!